Fantasy proneness, creative capacity, and styles of creativity

Development and Validation of the Thought Impact Scale: A Measure of Subconscious Connectedness

The Thought Impact Scale (TIS) is a new questionnaire designed to measure the theorized psychological characteristic of subconscious connectedness, defined as the degree to which nonconscious mental functions spontaneously interact with, and are accessible to, conscious awareness in everyday life. A principal reason for developing the TIS was the expectation that subconscious connectedness influences hypnosis treatment responses and seeking of hypnosis treatment. Two studies involving 1,216 subjects were carried out to validate the questionnaire. The TIS exhibited high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha of 0.93 and 0.95), good one-month test-retest reliability (r = 0.89), and convergent validity evidenced by substantial correlations with other measures hypothesized to partly assess the same construct: Absorption (r = 0.70), fantasy proneness (r = 0.54), dissociation (r = 0.50), and emotional empathy (r = 0.39). TIS scores were approximately normally distributed, higher in females than males, and declining with age. Exploratory factor analysis showed the TIS to be composed of a single dominant factor. High TIS scorers were 2.5 times as likely as low scorers to have undergone hypnosis treatment, 2.6 times as likely to report at least moderate benefit after hypnosis treatment, and 3.8 times as likely to consider themselves highly hypnotizable. High TIS scorers also more frequently reported being highly creative, art lovers, intuition-reliant, absentminded, spontaneous, novelty-seeking, and prone to form intense relationships. The TIS is a reliable and valid measure that is likely to be useful in clinical hypnosis practice and hypnosis research and for quantifying communication between conscious and nonconscious mental functions.

Exploring the relationship between fantasy proneness and delusional beliefs in psychosis and non-clinical individuals

Delusions are a core feature of psychopathology while fantasy proneness (FP) is a trait that describes a predisposition towards fantastical thinking, vivid mental imagery and an overactive imagination. The relationship between FP and delusional experiences has not yet been examined in the literature. The current study hypothesised that FP would be significantly associated with and predict delusion severity as well as the associated delusional distress, preoccupation and conviction. Ninety-five patients with current psychosis (schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder) were assessed for overall delusional severity using the PANSS (clinician-rated) and the Peters Delusions Inventory (PDI; self-report). FP was assessed using the Creative Experiences Questionnaire (CEQ). Forty-six healthy control participants also completed the PDI and CEQ. Significant positive correlations were observed between FP and delusion severity in both groups; and distress, preoccupation and conviction in patients only. Linear regression analyses, controlling for manic and depressive symptoms, revealed that greater FP predicted higher levels of severity, distress, preoccupation, and conviction associated with delusions in patients, and higher severity only in healthy controls. The findings highlight the role of specific cognitive biases in delusional experiences, and empirically support models of unusual belief formation and maintenance.

Childhood Adversity and the Creative Experience in Adult Professional Performing Artists

Childhood adversity is identified as any exposure to abuse, neglect or family dysfunction. Greater exposure to childhood adversity has been strongly identified with increased morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to examine differences in creative experiences, fantasy proneness, dispositional flow, exposure to adult traumatic events, and psychopathology (internalized shame, trait anxiety), amongst professional performing artists who experienced no childhood adversity, some adversity, or substantial adversity. This cross-section IRB approved study examined 234 professional performers (dancers, opera singers, actors, directors, musicians). Self-report measurements were included to examine the following psychological factors: adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), experience of creativity questionnaire, dispositional flow, trait anxiety, internalized shame, fantasy, and total adult and childhood traumatic events. The sample was divided into three groups based on ACE scores: 0 ACE (n = 93), 1-3 ACEs (n = 95), ≥4 ACEs (n = 42). The MANCOVA (with age and gender as covariates) results revealed no significant (p = 0.280) differences between all three ACE groups for the nine flow scales (optimal performance measurements). Performing artists with ≥4 ACEs had significantly stronger creative experiences (p = 0.006) related to distinct creative processing, absorption, and a transformational sense of self and the world. They were also more fantasy prone, shame-based, anxious, and experienced more cumulative past traumatic events (p < 0.001). Although the high ACE group experienced greater negative effects, they also endorsed positive creative performance experiences.

Self-Perceived Creativity

In view of unclear previous findings about the validity of self-assessed creativity, the hypothesis guiding the present study was that validity would be proven if self-assessed creativity was examined with respect to a specific domain, specific product, specific aspects of creativity, and in terms of specific criteria. The participants were 52 architecture students. The experimental task was to design a small museum in a described context. After completing the task, the students self-assessed their creativity in designing with seven open-ended questions, the Self-Assessment of Creative Design questionnaire, and a list of seven items tapping affective metacognitive aspects of the designing process. Thus, 21 creativity indicators were formed. Four expert architects, working independently, assessed the designs on nine creativity indicators: fluency, flexibility, elaboration, functionality, innovation, fulfilling specified design requirements, considering context, mastery of skills concerning the esthetics of the design representation, and overall creativity. The agreement among the architects’ evaluations was very high. The correlations between the nine corresponding indicators in students’ assessment of their design and those of the experts were positive and significant with respect to three indicators: fluency, flexibility, and overall creativity. On the contrary, the correlations of the rest noncorresponding indicators with those of the experts were not significant. The findings support the validity of self-assessed creativity with specific restrictions.